New BBC stats reveal micro:bit impact

BBC micro:bit celebrates huge impact in first year, with 90% of students saying it helped show anyone can code

To celebrate its first year, the BBC has released figures today showing the positive impact the BBC mico:bit has had amongst UK students and teachers.

The BBC micro:bit was launched last year as part of the BBC’s Make it Digital initiative. It aimed to help develop a new generation of digital pioneers – with
up to one million BBC micro:bits delivered for free to every year 7 student in England and Wales, year 8 student in Northern Ireland and S1 student in Scotland.

In its first year, the BBC micro:bit has changed the attitudes amongst UK students and teachers towards coding and ICT/computing. For last year’s Year 7 students
(or equivalent in Scotland and Northern Ireland) who used the BBC micro:bit:

90% agree BBC micro:bit helped show them anyone can code

88% agree BBC micro:bit helped them see coding isn’t as difficult as they thought it was

45% said they would definitely do ICT/Computer Science as a subject option in the future, up from 36% before they used BBC micro:bit. This was even more
accentuated for girls, increasing from 23% before they used BBC micro:bit to 39% afterwards, a 70% increase

And, amongst teachers:

75% of teachers have or are intending to use the BBC micro:bit by the end of the summer term

85% agree it has made ICT/Computer Science more enjoyable for their students

80% agree it helped students to see coding wasn’t as difficult as they thought it would be

Half of teachers who’ve used the BBC micro:bit say they now feel more confident as a teacher, particularly those who say they’re not very confident in
teaching Computing.

Sinead Rocks, BBC Director of Education said: Thirty years since the BBC Micro taught the nation computing, now the BBC micro:bit has introduced a new generation
to coding. These skills will be vital for so many jobs in the future, and it’s great to see that the BBC micro:bit has shown young people there’s no need to be daunted.
I’m glad the BBC has been able to bring together so many amazing partners to make a real difference – and we’re making sure our work continues to help young people in
future years and across the world.

Mrs Emily Rowland, Fairfield High School, Droylsden, Manchester commented: Micro:bits have given an exciting edge to the classroom enabling all pupils to bring
their creativity to computing. I have seen, through my work as a CAS master teacher and in my own school, the micro:bit inspires pupils to learn to code so they can
make things happen. The micro:bit has changed the shape of my teaching curriculum, they have become an integral part of the curriculum giving hands on projects to link
physical computing with the abstract programming concepts in some of the national curriculum. We have launched rockets, built robots and created music all with the
micro:bit.

Building on the UK’s legacy as a global technological pioneer project, the BBC and its partners have seen huge demand from organisations and governments outside the
UK to mirror the micro:bit’s UK success. Led by the Micro:bit Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation, there are pilot schemes in 10 countries including Finland,
Netherlands, Norway, – and full roll-out to all 11-12 year olds in Iceland, ensuring young people around the world can benefit from the BBC-led UK initiative to get
creative with coding. In Croatia, a crowd-funding campaign raised $300,000 to donate micro:bits to 1,000 elementary and secondary schools and 37 libraries in Croatia.
And Singapore announced in April that it will be putting micro:bits in the hands of up to 100,000 school children and adults to instil a passion for technology.

Zach Shelby, CEO of the Micro:bit Foundation said: This started as the BBC’s most ambitious education project in 30 years, building on the pioneering role of the
BBC Micro, which helped introduce the nation to computing in the 1980s. It has been made possible only through a ground-breaking partnership between the BBC and 31
organisations including ARM, Barclays, element14, Kitronik, Lancaster University, Microsoft, Nordic Semiconductor, NXP Semiconductors, Samsung, Technology Will Save Us
and the Wellcome Trust. We are ecstatic to play a leading part in the next frontier in technology education bringing micro:bit to the rest of the world.